Biking Day 2, Tegernsee to Aschau in Chiemgau

This was billed (correctly) as the best scenery of the week, but also the most challenging ride..  Over 4000 ft of elevation gain. Luckily, they took us in the van most of the way up the first hill, onto some roads that are used to get to a local ski area (I think this was Spitzingsee).  We then traveled up and down some modest hills on roads only used by the ski area through some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.  Then they found us some serious hills to climb. Unfortunately, it rained in the morning, so I don't have much in the way of photos, because they came out too dreary.  But I'll show you what we saw after lunch.

Side note: the new rain jackets worked well both days.  On the first day, I saw someone put on his rain booties and thought "Damn, I have a pair of those at home.  Why didn't I think to bring them?" What I should have thought was "Damn, I have a pair of those in my suitcase.  Why didn't I think to put them in my pack?".  (when you pack a suitcase full of biking stuff an entire month before you use it, it's easy to forget what you brought). It took some effort to get the shoes dry, but the second day I was toasty warm and dry (Jay, who does not have rain booties for bike shoes, did not feel the same).  The new base layer shirt helped too.

Our lunch was at the waterfall (well, the restaurant by the waterfall) where the Tatzlwurm Dragon is supposed to reside.  According to the internet, this is your classic dragon rampaging the neighborhood (and who might come out again, if he gets disturbed), but according to the restaurant, it was tamed by a former owner, who kept feeding it until it got fat and sluggish and only wanted to rest by the fire.

After lunch we headed down to Aschgau am Chiemsee, which, as the name suggests is near the Chiemsee, and which meant we had a lot of "interesting" downhills on wet roads (at one point it was a 18% grade -- though I suppose doing that downhill is better than uphill).  On our way we crossed the river Inn (as in "Innsbruck"), several more lovely lakes, and got our first views of the Wilder Kaiser, a stony mountain face (the name means Wild Emperor) in the distance.

Pictures:

An idea of what a locals-only ski area this was.

The waterfall that the Tatzlwurm is supposedly hiding behind.

The River Inn shortly after the rain stopped

The Wilder Kaiser from the River Inn.

Random lovely valley we went through.

This is where we stayed this second night (and the third night also).  Residenz Heinz Winkler

Close up of the window detail of the hotel.

That night we ate in the dining room of the hotel.  The hotel was founded by Heinz Winkler to showcase his own restaurant (I suppose to make it a destination).  He was, in 1981, the youngest chef to ever get 3 Michelin stars.  (The restaurant is currently a 2 Michelin star).  The food was excellent, though I doubt you would recognize it as German.  I think we had five courses, all of reasonable size.  But really, four hours for a dinner is too long (OK, we didn't mind it when we went to the French Laundry a few years ago, but then we didn't have to get up the next morning to bike.)

Today's ride: 72 km, 4100 ft elevation gain (so I biked more than my age in km).  There were lots opportunities to get ferried over the hills, but I survived them all.